For the third straight year, the Toronto Bulldogs are Brick Invitational Super Novice Hockey Tournament champions after they defeated the B.C Junior Canucks 3-1 in the final game at West Edmonton Mall Sunday.

It’s a feat that has never been accomplished in the 24 year history of the tournament,

Toronto Bulldogs head coach Dave D’Ammizio has been a part of all three winning teams, and he’s just as proud of his boys now as he’s ever been.

“Every year is different, but it’s nice that we’ve won three years in a row,” says D’ Ammizio. “We’ve had such a great group of kids and such a great group of parents, and I’m just very happy for our kids.”

In three years, the Bulldogs have posted a daunting 20-1-2 record at the Brick Tournament. It’s something D’Ammizio credits to consistency in coaching and game-plan.

“(It comes down to) Having the experience of having consistent coaches come back each year, we know the level of hockey to expect and we know the work that’s required to get to that opportunity, and we build our teams accordingly,” says D’Ammizio.

Despite being a dominant team this season, not one of the Bulldog’s players cracked the top five in tournament scoring, although forward Brett Harrisson and defenceman Owain Johnston made the tournament’s first all-star team.

And that’s because of the team’s depth throughout the lineup, says D’Ammizio.

“Anyone that watched our team said that we didn’t have any one stand out player, and that’s because we have 16 stand-out players,” says D’Ammizio.

ALBERTA REGROUPS

For Team Brick Alberta (4-2), despite having their best round robin record in three years, this year’s tournament served as a learning lesson on just how good you have to be to make the playoffs.

“The kids did fantastic. It was a very tight tournament with excellent competition – that’s why it’s the world’s best tournament,” says Brick Alberta head coach Steve Serdachny. “If you watched the entire tournament then you saw how close it was.”

One of the tournament bright spots for Brick was the play of their team captain, and Serdachny’s son, Noah Serdachny, who took home top scorer honours in the round robin portion with three goals and eight assists in six games.

“As a father I am very, very proud of him,” says Serdachny. “He plays the game well; he shares the puck and just tries to make the players around him better.”

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Brick Invitational Tournament, and Serdachny is already looking forward to it, and preparing to make a run.

“It’s going to be a huge one, and we’re looking forward to the adjustments we need to make to improve,” says Serdachny.

“Anytime you attend a tournament like this you get the opportunity to see just what kind of a team you need to build and I think we built the right team this year.